Martin said, "Dick Trickle told me back in 1977 something that kind of irritated me. He told me, ‘In order to finish first, first you must finish.’ What’s that tell you? He wouldn’t have told me that if I hadn’t been wrecking. I was a young man and I was in the gas and I was knocking front clips off. He told me that and that’s the truth. I guess some of those other guys haven’t learned that yet and I guess that’s OK. A lot of people eliminated themselves.”

Interesting side note:

While researching this post, I came across the most popular online search terms for Dick Trickle. I am not making these up.

"Is race car driver Dick Trickle dead"

"NASCAR makes my Dick Trickle"

As far as I know, Trickle is still alive. Maybe the fact that he drilled a hole in his helmet so he could smoke while he raced gave fans cause to question his mortality. As for NASCAR making someone’s Dick Trickle, the best way to avoid that problem is to stay away from her: